Tincture

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A tincture prepared from white willow bark and ethanol

In medicine, a tincture is an alcoholic extract (e.g. of leaves or other plant material) or solution of a non-volatile substance; (e.g. of iodine, mercurochrome). To qualify as a tincture, the alcoholic extract is to have an ethanol percentage of at least 40-60% (sometimes a 90% percent pure liquid is even achieved). ^[1] Solutions of volatile substances were called spirits, although that name was also given to several other materials obtained by distillation, even when they did not include alcohol. In chemistry, a tincture is a solution that has alcohol as the solvent.

[edit] General method of preparation

A general method of preparation on how tinctures can be prepared is the following:^[2]

• Herbs are put in a jar and a spirit of 40°C pure ethanol is added
• The jar is left to stand for 2-3 weeks, shaken occasionally.

To make a more precise tincture, more extensive measuring can be done by combining 1 part herbs with a water-ethanol mixture of 2-10 parts, depending on the herb itself. With most tinctures, however, 1 part water at 5 parts ethanol is used.^[3]

[edit] Examples of tinctures

Some examples that were formerly common in medicine^[4] include:

• Tincture of Cannabis sativa
• Tincture of Benzoin
• Tincture of cantharides
• Tincture of ferric citrochloride (a chelate of citric acid and Iron(III) chloride)
• Tincture of green soap (which also contains lavender)
• Tincture of guaiac
• Tincture of iodine
• Tincture of opium (laudanum)
• Camphorated opium tincture (paregoric)
• Tincture of Pennyroyal

Examples of spirits include:

• Spirit of ammonia (also called spirit of hartshorn)
• Spirit of box, or ethanol, which was derived from the destructive distillation of boxwood
• Spirit of camphor
• Spirit of ether, a solution of diethyl ether in alcohol
• "Spirit of Mindererus", ammonium acetate in alcohol
• "Spirit of nitre" is not a spirit in this sense, but an old name for nitric acid (but "sweet spirit of nitre" was ethyl nitrite)
• Similarly "spirit(s) of salt" actually meant hydrochloric acid. The concentrated, fuming, 35% acid is still sold under this name in the UK, for use as a drain-cleaning fluid.
• "Spirit of vinegar" was glacial acetic acid and
• "Spirit of vitriol" was sulfuric acid
• "Spirit of wine" or "spirits of wine" is an old name for alcohol (especially food grade alcohol derived from the distillation of wine)
• "Spirit of wood" means methanol, often derived from the destructive distillation of wood

[edit] See also

• Nalewka - a traditional Polish category of alcoholic tincture.
• infusion - a water or oil based extract with similar historical uses to a tincture.
• Elixir - A pharmaceutical preparation containing an active ingredient that is dissolved in a solution containing some percentage of ethyl alcohol.
• Extract

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• How to make a tincture